Can pregnancy cause tonic clonic seizures?

Tonic-clonic seizures that occur during pregnancy appear to be associated with temporary hypoxia. Therefore, monotherapy for seizures and treatment at the lowest effective dose should be administered to women with epilepsy in the preconception and prenatal term.

What is the pathophysiology of tonic clonic seizures?

The spread of excitability to subcortical, thalamic, brainstem, and spinal cord structures corresponds with the tonic phase of the seizure. Following this, an inhibitory impulse starts from the thalamus and interrupts the tonic phase into discontinuous bursts of electrical activity, known as the clonic phase.

How can epilepsy affect pregnancy?

Seizures during pregnancy can cause: Slowing of the fetal heart rate. Decreased oxygen to the fetus. Fetal injury, premature separation of the placenta from the uterus (placental abruption) or miscarriage due to trauma, such as a fall, during a seizure.

What causes pregnancy seizures?

What causes eclampsia? Eclampsia often follows preeclampsia, which is characterized by high blood pressure occurring in pregnancy and, rarely, postpartum. Other findings may also be present such as protein in the urine. If your preeclampsia worsens and affects your brain, causing seizures, you have developed eclampsia.

Can you have a healthy baby if you have epilepsy?

Fact: In general, epilepsy has no impact on your delivery method. Just like women without epilepsy, you can have your baby vaginally or via Cesarean-section (C-section) — it’s up to you and your physician. If you have repeated seizures while in labor, your physician may choose to do a C-section.

Is contraindicated in epilepsy and pregnancy?

Oxcarbazepine levels also tend to decrease during pregnancy however carbamazepine levels do not. Of the new anti-seizure medications, lamotrigine and levetiracetam are the most widely used due to their known safety during pregnancy.

What is the pathophysiology of a seizure?

The basic premise of generalized tonic-clonic seizure pathophysiology is that seizures start with a robust excitation of susceptible epileptic cerebral neurons, which leads to synchronous discharges of progressively larger groups of connected neurons eventually affecting a part of the brain that leads to the clinical …

Can I marry a girl with epilepsy?

There is no reason why an epileptic person cannot get married and have children and lead a normal life. However, correct diagnosis is required as there are several kinds of epileptic seizures. Proper medication and precautions need to be taken though.

Which epilepsy drugs are safest in pregnancy?

A review of the risks of major congenital malformations and of adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes for antiepileptic drugs by the Commission on Human Medicines has confirmed that lamotrigine (Lamictal) and levetiracetam (Keppra) are the safer of the medicines reviewed during pregnancy.

Is it safe to have tonic clonic seizures during pregnancy?

There’s no evidence that says focal (partial) seizures, myoclonic seizures, or absence seizures will harm your baby. But tonic-clonic seizures can cause injury from drowning, motor vehicle accidents and falls.

What makes a clonic seizure different from a tonic seizure?

Tonic seizures cause a stiffening of muscles while clonic seizures are characterized by jerking or twitching. What You Need to Know Tonic and clonic seizures can start on one side of the brain (partial or focal seizures), or on both sides of the brain simultaneously (generalized). Tonic and clonic seizure activity can happen in the same seizure.

Can a tonic seizure cause you to fall?

Tonic Seizures. A tonic seizure causes a sudden stiffness or tension in the muscles of the arms, legs or trunk. The stiffness lasts about 20 seconds and is most likely to happen during sleep. Tonic seizures that occur while the person is standing may cause them to fall.

How to lower the risk of epilepsy during pregnancy?

But here are some ways you might lower the risk of having seizures: If you have sickness and can’t keep your epilepsy medicine down, speak to your GP or epilepsy specialist nurse as soon as possible Talk to your GP, epilepsy specialist or epilepsy specialist nurse about any seizures you have.